1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side lock assembly for a storage bin such as a glove box adapted, to be mounted to a vehicle instrument panel for a opening and closing capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
A side lock assembly of the type set forth above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 4-60079. This side lock assembly is structured with a pair of right and left link levers pivotally mounted to a housing fixedly mounted in a glove box, a pair of latches connected to upper distal ends of the respective right and left link levers for protruding and retracting movements through associated lock apertures formed in an instrument panel, and a compression spring connected to lower end portions of the respective right and left link levers for biasing the above-described latches such that they engage the lock apertures at all times.
And, when the glove box remains in a closed condition, the distal ends of the latches formed at the upper end portions of the respective right and left link levers remain in engagement with the associated right and left lock apertures of the instrument panel, thereby locking the glove box in its closed position. In order for such a locked condition to be released for thereby unlocking the glove box, pivotally operating an operating handle compels opposing protruding arms, which are formed intermediate the pair of respective link levers, to be moved downward against the biasing force of the compression spring, causing the right and left link levers to rotate in a direction opposite to the biasing force of the compression spring to allow the distal ends of the latches to be retracted from the associated lock apertures. This enables the glove box to be shifted in an opening direction.
Accordingly, the side lock assembly set forth above affords an advantage of simply achieving locking and unlocking operations at both sides of the glove box. However, in contrast, when there is a need for altering the amount of protruding or retracting movements at both right and left sides due to particular design changes in shape of the glove box or the instrument panel, not only the length of the latches but also the sizes of the link levers and the housing must be altered. This results in fear of a limitation in space for accommodating the glove box per se.
The present invention has been completed to effectively address the above issues. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a side lock assembly for locking a storage bin to a support body, comprising: a support body; a storage bin received in the support body, and an opening and closing mechanism operatively mounted on the storage bin for operating the storage bin in a locked position and an unlocked position relative to the support body The opening and closing mechanism includes, an operating member pivotally mounted on the storage bin to move selectively between the locked position and the unlocked position; a rotatable connecting member integrally rotatable with the operating member to move selectively between the locked position and the unlocked position; a latch member engaged to or disengaged from the support body through the storage bin, the latch member being movable inward along a rotational axis of the rotatable connecting member and normally biased outward to lock the storage bin to the support body in the locked position; and a latch release member having one element connected to the latch member and another element connected to the rotatable connecting member, to apply an axial force to the latch member, the latch release member being operative to move the latch member inward along the rotational axis against the axial force to disengage the latch member from the support body in the unlocked position in response to an unlocking external force applied to the operating member.
With the structure of the first aspect of the present invention, the presence of the rotatable connecting member integrally movable with the operating member allows the latch member to be connected to the rotatable connecting member in a simplified structure with a minimal number of components, thereby permitting the latch member to be movable along a rotational axis of the rotatable connecting member between the closed or locked position and the open or unlocked position. This provides an ease of design change in the support body or the storage bin without any remarkable change in structure of the opening and closing mechanism. This is achieved by replacement of the latch member to provide desired amounts of protrusions along the rotational axis of the rotatable connecting member required for a particular support body or a particular storage bin.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a side lock assembly for locking a storage bin to a support body, comprising: a support body having a pair of lock apertures; a storage bin received in the support body; and an opening and closing mechanism operatively mounted on the storage bin for operating the storage bin in a locked position and an unlocked position relative to the support body, The opening and closing mechanism includes an operating handle pivotally mounted on the storage bin to move selectively between the locked position and the unlocked position; a rotatable connecting bar integrally rotatable with the operating handle to move selectively between the locked position and the unlocked position; a pair of latches connected to opposing ends of the rotatable connecting bar for integral rotation therewith, the pair of latches being movable inward along a rotational axis of the rotatable connecting bar; at least one spring member normally biasing the pair of latches toward the lock apertures of the support body along the rotational axis of the rotatable connecting bar to lock the storage bin to the support body in the locked position; and a latch release member including a cam member connected to at least one of the pair of latches, the cam member being normally inoperative to allow the spring member to bias the pair of latches toward the lock apertures of the support body and operative to move the pair of latches inward along the rotational axis of the rotatable connecting bar against the biasing force of the spring member to disengage the pair of latches from the support body in the unlocked position in response to an external unlocking force applied to the operating handle.
With the structure of the second aspect of the present invention, the presence of the rotatable connecting bar integrally movable with the operating handle allows the pair of latches to be connected to the rotatable connecting bar in a simplified structure with a minimal number of components, thereby permitting the pair of latches to be movable along a rotational axis of the rotatable connecting bar between the closed or locked position and the open or unlocked position. This provides an ease of design change in the support body or the storage bin without any remarkable change in structure of the opening and closing mechanism. This is achieved by a pair of newly replaced latches to provide desired amounts of protrusions along the rotational axis of the rotatable connecting bar, i.e. in a lateral direction, required for a particular support body or a particular storage bin without the need for replacement of the housing encompassing the rotatable connecting bar, the pair of latches and the latch release member.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a side lock assembly for locking a storage bin to a support body, comprising: a support body having a pair of lock apertures; a storage bin received in the support body for a closed condition and an opened condition; and an opening and closing mechanism operatively mounted to the storage bin for operating the storage bin in a locked position and an unlocked position relative to the support body to permit the storage bin to be actuated in the closed condition and the opened condition, respectively. The opening and closing mechanism includes: an operating handle disposed in the storage bin and operative to actuate the opening and closing mechanism in the unlocked position; a rotatable member integrally movable with the operating handle and operative to move selectively between the locked position and the unlocked position; a pair of latches connected to the rotatable member for sliding movements along a rotational axis of the rotatable member; at least one spring member cooperating with the rotatable member to normally bias the pair of latches outward to cause the same to engage the lock apertures of the support body in the locked position; and
a latch release member including a cam member cooperating with the pair of latches and the rotatable member, the cam member being normally inoperative to allow the spring member to bias the pair of latches toward the lock apertures of the support body and operative to move the pair of latches inward along the rotational axis of the rotatable member against the biasing force of the spring member to disengage the pair of latches from the support body in the unlocked position in response to an external unlocking force applied to the operating handle.
With the structure of the third aspect of the present invention, the presence of the latch release member including a cam member cooperating with the pair of latches and the rotatable member allows the pair of latches to be connected to the rotatable member in a simplified structure with a minimal number of components, thereby permitting the pair of latches to be movable along a rotational axis of the rotatable member between the closed or locked position and the open or unlocked position. This provides an ease of design change in the support body or the storage bin without any remarkable change in structure of the opening and closing mechanism. This is achieved by newly replaced cam member with an alternative cam recess and a pair of newly replaced latches with alternative length of travels along the rotational axis of the rotatable shah required for a particular support body or a particular storage bin without the need for replacement of the housing encompassing the rotatable member, the pair of latches and the latch release member.